Jim & Linda Mielke, Center City MN

One
can’t help but feel a warm welcome when walking into Jim and Linda Mielke’s
home just outside of Center City, Minnesota. Part of it comes from the home-harvested
wood that lines the walls and forms its cabinets and furniture. Part of it is the
earth-sheltered home they built, nestled against a south-facing slope. But
underneath it all is Jim and Linda themselves and the vision and stewardship
they’ve poured into the woods surrounding their home. Like so many MFA members,
the passion for trees and working with wood started long before they bought
their own land. For Jim, it started in his dad’s workshop.

“My
Dad taught high school biology and horticulture and had a large green house, so
he certainly played a part in planting an interest in me for things that grow.
But it was his wood working skills that really caught my attention. He built
our entire staircase at home, turning every spindle himself.” As a youngster, Jim
spent a lot of time in his dad’s shop, cultivating a love for woodworking.

Years
later, when Jim and Linda found themselves employed by the North Branch school
district, they looked for a wooded acreage to set up a home and raise their
family.They found an ideal spot with 13
acres of red and white oak, maple, basswood and ash, eventually purchasing
adjacent land that brought their total land to just under 20 acres.

“We
built the house in 1978 and then spent a number of years finishing the inside,”
said Linda. By the early 80’s, they had their first forest management plan
written up and began harvesting the mature red and white oak trees and sawed
them on their first sawmill.Jim remembers
cutting a 16’ and 14’ log from one huge, red oak whose boards now enclose the
beams in their open living room. “It took two tractors just to load them up on
the hay wagon,” said Jim. During this time, the Mielkes and their sons Aaron
and Curt set up a road side stand, selling firewood to the people visiting Wild
River State Park.

Jim
spent many hours finishing their home in the lumber from their woods, using
figured hard maple to build the drawers in their dining room hutch, and green
ash and red oak in the two bedrooms’ closets and furnishings.The centerpiece of their home is a beautiful
maple table and 6 chairs, all built by Jim. “Each chair has 28 mortise and tenon
joints. It took years to finish them.”

In
the late 80’s the Mielkes purchased an hydraulic Woodmizer and also built a
kiln from a pattern found in American Woodworker. They continued to harvest and
sell lumber to other carpenters and wood workers. But of course, the work of forest management
continues. “The understory species of maple and basswood took off a little too
much after we harvested the mature oaks and opened up the canopy. Unfortunately,
so did the buckthorn. I harvest a few basswood every year for carving, and
we’re working to re-establish the oaks. The buckthorn is an on-going battle.”

The Mielkes seates at the maple table and chairs Jim built

A few of the figures Jim carves from basswood harvested on the land.

Beams encased with white oak harvested from one tree.

Today,
much of Jim and Linda’s retirement revolves around family, their woodlands and
the products they harvest from it. Jim spends the winter in his workshop
turning out whimsical characters, puzzles, and Diamond Willow walking sticks.
Every summer he volunteers for two months at the North House Folk School in
Grand Marais where Linda enjoys time with her grandchildren who live in the
area. They also attend several craft shows and sell Jim’s work in local gift
shops. And for both of them, there’s nothing better than spending a day in
their woods.